In searching to explain the proliferation of home runs this season at both UC San Diego and Point Loma Nazarene, one might expect college players to be caught up in baseball’s latest buzz phrase: launch angle.

But the words were not spoken until a person pestering the players with questions dropped launch angle into the discussion.

“If you’re focused on the angle that you’re trying to hit the ball, then you’re probably not going to hit it in the first place,” UCSD junior outfielder Zander Clarke said. “We’re just concerned as a team with hitting the ball hard. Even lining out. If you try to line out in every at-bat, you’re going to do pretty good.

“And eventually you’ll miss underneath one (that will carry out). Our team has done well with that.”

Clarke (15 home runs) and junior third baseman Alex Eliopulos (14) lead a Tritons team that has slugged 70 home runs this season, two shy of the school’s single-season record.

PLNU has had similar success this season, collecting 65 home runs. That’s second in school history to the record 74 hit by the 2009 team.

Much of the damage for the Sea Lions has been done by senior outfielder Tyler Flores, who has a school-record 20 home runs this season.

More of the same could be expected this weekend in the NCAA Division II West Regional being played at Azusa Pacific University.

Azusa Pacific ranks fifth in the nation this season with 81 homers, many of them coming in a ballpark that is friendly to fly balls.

UCSD and PLNU play each other tonight at 7 in the opening round of the West Regional. It is the first time in three years the teams have shared the same field, dating to the 2015 West Regional when the Tritons eliminated PLNU from the tournament.

“As I’ve gotten better at learning the game, observing what’s being done by the pitcher and what my strengths are, hitting-wise,” Clarke said, “I’ve translated that into hitting a lot more balls square. And that has resulted in more power numbers.”

Eliopulos credits his long-ball success to getting bigger and stronger. He had just one career homer at La Jolla High. He hit five last season at UCSD.

“Last year, I had a lot more doubles than I do now, but I think that’s just those doubles are turning into home runs,” Eliopulos said.

UCSD second baseman Justin Beck, who has nine home runs, has seen a similar surge this season. Teammates Tyler Durna and Nick Kitzmann aren’t far behind with seven homers apiece.

Unlike the major leagues, where last month there were more strikeouts than hits, it has not come at the expense of making contact.

For example, Clarke is batting .399 with only 36 strikeouts in 198 at-bats. Eliopulos is batting .325 with 16 strikeouts in 209 at-bats.

“We don’t talk about launch angle,” Newman said. “We don’t teach that. We just talk about good hitting. Keep your bat in the zone a long time, hit through the baseball, get a good pitch to hit and good things will happen.

“Power is one of those things that come when you’re consistently doing that. And we have some bigger guys with some leverage and little bit of natural loft in their swings. That’s more why you see the power like it is.”

Flores is in the midst of the best season in PLNU history, putting on a power display that has seemingly come out of nowhere. He had only three homers last season.

The totals by PLNU teammates Micah Pries (11 homers), Adam Rios (9) and John Balliet (8) would seem solid any other season, but completely overshadowed by what Flores has done.

“I’ve kind of figured out my swing,” said Flores, a left-handed hitter from Houston who studied video of Ken Griffey Jr. last year for inspiration. “I felt like I had been swinging too hard. I just wanted a smooth swing. ... I’ve tried to not think too much about hitting home runs. With home runs you can’t really try to hit them.”

PLNU coach Joe Schaefer says part of the explanation for Flores’ long-ball success comes with a role change this season.

“He’s had the power all along,” Schaefer said, “but he was in a totally different lineup last year. The second half of his junior year he hit leadoff for us because he had such good plate discipline and had a knack for getting on base.”

Flores has been the Sea Lions’ cleanup hitter this season. He is poised to become the best run-producer in school history — his 62 RBIs are one shy of the school’s single-season mark.

Like the others, Flores hasn’t sacrificed contact for power. He is batting .346 with only 22 strikeouts in 202 at-bats.

“He knows what pitch he can have success with,” Schaefer said. “and he doesn’t chase or give into pitches that he doesn’t think he can do damage with.

“I think that’s been the biggest thing. He doesn’t settle. He waits until he gets his pitch and then he hammers it.”

Andy Wilhelm photo

UC San Diego third baseman Alex Eliopulos has 14 home runs this season.

UC San Diego third baseman Alex Eliopulos has 14 home runs this season. (Andy Wilhelm photo)